Saturday, December 31, 2011

I’m Baaaaaaaaaack!!!!

Woo hoo, just in time….I’m sure you’ve missed me and are just itching to read what we’ve been up to over here in the Butler house, right?? No? Oh well, here’s a recap anyway.

I was crazy busy last week, as was everyone, putting the finishing touches on Christmas. I loved every second spent with family and friends.

All of our homemade gifts were a major hit….so I hope Pinterest gets extra creative in 2012 so we can top it next year! Family calendars full of family photos and everyone’s birthdays and anniversaries (made on Shutterfly) are always a family fave!! Make a mental note of that and keep it in mind for next year. Seriously, everyone loves them!

I also got hooked up with some awesome gifts. A few of my faves were my new camera lens, a foam roller, our front porch swing, a curling iron,

and lots of running clothes, including this tank:

{No, that’s not me….you’re right. But YES, I do look just like that wearing it. You know, in my dreams and all.}

We also got our workout on big time last week with three lifting sessions and some runnin like I stole something. I tried my best to run my lil booty off. Jon says I’m never going to be able to get rid of that thang so I may as well quit trying. Ha!

He’s probably right.

Sooooo, I’m sure that more than anything you’ve missed my weirdo, self-portrait running photos. Don’t worry, I don’t plan to disappoint… and I even threw in a new angle with a super awkward face for your viewing pleasure.

In case you’re wondering, I DID in fact receive a pair of UA cold gear running tights from Santa Jon!! I don’t know if I thought they’d miraculously make me look cooler, but I have a knack for making stuff look dorky, so I’m not so sure my running wardrobe has made any huge strides or anything. They are awesome though. And Big Jon likes that they don’t come up 6 inches above my belly button and look like “grandma panty hose” as he calls them. Doesn’t everyone wear their panty hose, and tights for that matter, like that?? These are almost “low rise”, so they’re perfect if you are trying to pull off the sexy look while running. OBVIOUSLY sexy and running don’t typically go in the same sentence for me, well, ever.

ANYWAY….I did, however, knock out a serious business 43 miles, including a run on both Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. I know that may seem too hardcore, but I really enjoyed all the yummy holiday food that much more knowing I got my workout in for the day. And I woke up super early and ran in the freezing cold so I wouldn’t intervene with any of our plans. When I say freezing cold, I do mean like 30. I may or may not have been a little over dressed and ended up with a serious case of elbow crease sweat. Does anyone else get that?? It is super strange.

Oh, and since it was completely DARK while we were running, I got to use my new headlamp!! I don’t have a pic, but it looks like this:

Pretty sweet, huh? It was very helpful, and I only had one close call. I tripped over that sneaky, sneaky air and went through about a 10-step slow motion gradual decline towards a faceplant. Thankfully I made an super ungraceful recovery and didn’t have to make any emergency trips to the dentist. Not gonna lie, one of my prouder moments.

So far this week I’ve ran 29 miles, including a 14 miler this morning. This was my first time ever mastering a negative split. Not by choice….someone lit a fire under Crissy’s tail and I was just trying to keep up. I put Ice Cream Paint Job on repeat for the last 4 miles (because I didn’t have enough energy to find a better song & it’s got a decent beat) and glanced down a couple times at the Garmin to see that the first number in our mile pace was at a 7 or 8. Brutal! I prefer to stick to my 9:50-10:20 miles on long runs where I can breathe and stuff, but it’s all good. I guess someone is shooting for a PR in Miami!!

The hubs and I also went with our youth group to a conference in Macon for a couple days. We had a great time!!! There were some jam up speakers who really encouraged my walk, and of course the kids (and uh, me and Big Jon) were super pumped about Lacrae!!! I played it cool and didn’t go to the front row or anything when he was performing, but I did stand up and dance in my seat. My nephew moved away from me and Jonathan told me I should sit down. Whatever, they don’t know GREAT dancing when they see it!!! I really enjoyed hearing Lacrae rap, but his speaking blew me away. He brought up some excellent points that really stuck out to me. I’ll have to blog about that on my next Food for Thought Friday post.

And if you are bored and wanna check out our family Christmas pictures, just go on over to these links and get a little inside view of all the fun!

Hope you and your family had a WONDERFUL Christmas and break!!!! We sure did!

P.S. The REFUEL WITH CHOCOLATE MILK GRANT is still going on…..go search for BUTLER and vote for ya girl today! And every day till Jan 15th. Please?? And thank you. (How can you resist my manners? Not to mention I actually DO refuel with chocolate milk after every.single.run and workout!)

I would love to see a tutorial or pinterest link to the monogram platters. Super cute - what a great gift idea. I've made calendars for my mom and mil before so I know how much your family appreciated those.